Exclusive Excerpt from: “Comical Sense: A Lone Humorist Takes on a World Gone Nutty!” by Tom Purcel lStudents, faculty, family members and friends, it is my great honor to deliver your commencement speech today.It is my opinion that our society must take every opportunity to praise our young people for their hard work and accomplishment, and that is why ceremonies such as this are so important to our country’s future.It was not so long ago, after all, that a more conservative America saw things differently. What a harsh place America once was - particularly for our young students.So primitive were educational practices when I was young that our gym teachers forced us to play dodgeball and other competitive games. Can you imagine how humiliating it was to have children whipping big rubber balls at your torso, and if you got hit and failed to catch the ball, you “lost”?Our teachers enjoyed pitting us against each other inside the classroom, too, with competitive quizzes and spelling bees.